Violet's non-busy hands

Pretty much every time I ask a childless friend if Violet can come along to a visit to their house, they flutter nervously that they the place isn't childproofed. Which is so sweet! But you know what? Violet doesn't need childproofing. Is she such a strange kid? She doesn't..mess with stuff. When she was really small, she never put stuff in the mouth the way other kids did. And then she never messed with the light sockets. And now she doesn't bother to de-shelve books or empty her bins onto the floor crashingly. Is she just mellow in this way? Or is she smart? Or is it because she's a girl? I didn't train it out of her. She just never did it.

This was brought home to me today when we went to go visit Liko today. Liko is a few months older than V, and his mom, Ollie, and I went to college together. Liko is a darling little boy who I think is actually probably on the gentler end of the spectrum of boys, as he is polite and hugs Violet and shares his toys, etc. etc. But still, we'd walk into a room and he'd immediately upend a basket of toys and gleefully jump on top of them in a way V has never done. It's so crazy, the differences between kids.

Still, I feel like I'm a worm of cleanliness, moving through the house to absolutely no effect. I notice the toilet is a mess, I clean it...and meantime Violet has pulled out her Play-Doh barrel and there's little balls of dough all over the floor. I take the time to do the dishes and she's pulled out all the hats and is trying them on one by one. I bend and straighten and pick up and wipe off and put away and hang up and oh my God, she left the sippy cup on its side and milk has dripped down the table legs and onto the floor.

What cute thing did she do today? She drew an apple! It was really cool! I drew one, and then she picked up a reddish crayon and did a shaky circle right next to mine, with a little line at the top for a stem. I think that's kind of amazing for a two year old. It was a recognizable apple! What else? When we were at Liko's, Liko's friend Argus was over, Ollie babysits him sometimes. Argus starting keening for his mom. He got upset and was crying over and over again, "I want my mom! I want my mom!" It felt so heartbreaking I picked him up and put him on my lap and told him "I'm not your mom, but I am a mom," and snoogled him onto my chest. And Violet came right over and instead of saying "My Mommy!" and pushing him off like she usually would, she patted his back. I thought that was sweet. Poor ol' Argus. Ollie called his mom and she came back early, whew! He was inconsolable. I got tears in my eyes I was so sad I couldn't help him. Ollie and I sang songs to pass the time until she came, and he would be OK until the end of every song, but then he'd cry again. Poor lil guy.